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China Sends Record Number of Military Planes Near Taiwan [1]

['Amy Chang Chien', 'Chris Buckley', 'More About Amy Chang Chien', 'More About Chris Buckley']

Date: 2023-09-18

That tally included 40 aircraft that crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which once acted as an informal boundary between the two sides. Dozens of other Chinese planes flew off the southern end of Taiwan and turned part of the way along the island’s eastern coast, facing the West Pacific.

What We Know

China has ramped up military flights around Taiwan every year since 2019. In particular, Beijing has done so during moments of tension around Taiwan’s high-level exchanges with the United States, the island’s most important political and security partner.

One of the last major surges came after Nancy Pelosi, at that time Speaker of the House of Representatives, visited Taiwan last year in a show of support for the island.

In 2020, Taiwan began releasing daily counts of the growing number of Chinese military aircraft entering its “air defense identification zone,” also called its ADIZ, which is a buffer area much broader than Taiwan’s territorial airspace.

The number of People’s Liberation Army flights recorded by Taiwan grew from 972 in 2021 — the first full year when Taiwan began regularly recording the numbers — to 1,737 last year, and 1,268 so far this year, including the spike on Monday, said Ben Lewis, a military analyst who maintains a data set on the flights, using the data from Taiwan’s defense ministry.

The Context

Chinese leaders have maintained for decades that they want to claim Taiwan back peacefully but will not exclude using force if they deem it necessary.

The increased Chinese military activity around Taiwan does not mean that war is imminent. China is also testing and eroding the island’s vigilance, seeking to wear away its military equipment and personnel, and remind Taiwanese politicians and voters of China’s military might.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/world/asia/china-taiwan-military-planes.html

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